GOP Vixen

The Long Tail at the multiplex

True to my resolution to read more, I just finished the excellent The Long Tail:  Why the future of business is selling less of more, by Wired's Chris Anderson.  In a nutshell, it demonstrates how the internet and other technologies have given niche markets, particularly within entertainment, an unprecedented power in the economy where they've previously been ignored or overlooked.  There a couple of ways this is relevant for movie theatres:  the gains independent movies have made at the box office (Juno, Little Miss Sunshine), and special digital presentations (The Met).

Juno:  From the studio behind the superb Little Miss Sunshine comes this story of eccentric teen Juno, who finds herself pregnant after a drunken night with her best friend Paulie Bleeker.  After a gut decision to abort the baby, she decides to find a set of adoptive parents to take care of the baby, which leads to uber-yuppie couple Vanessa and Mark.  But things aren't as simple as Juno would like with both her friend and the yuppies.

Overall, pretty good stuff.  As previously mentioned, Ellen Page puts out a good performance.  The one fault I'd say this time around is that she makes a lousy pregnant woman; in one scene, she twists and squirms to reach something in the back seat casually when it should have been excruciatingly painful.  Aside from that, she's aces.

Michael Cera (from Superbad) continues his awkward-yet-articulate nice guy shtick, which is maybe 3 days away from getting stale, but is still good here.  Jason Bateman does better in Juno than Mr. Magorium, as the rebel-in-yuppie's clothing.  But Jennifer Garner, who I'm sure is great in Alias, is horrible here.  It was like watching her play Bree Hodge, but without the charming psychoological issues or cattiness.  Aside from a few good tender moments dwelling on her barren-ness, just a horribly boring stage presence.

The rest of the supporting cast (Allison Janney in particular) are fun to watch and provide some great one-liners and comedic moments.  That Juno has risen to #2 in the country in the past week while other movies have dropped isn't a surprise, and looks like it'll have a staying power to be envied after a slow roll-out.  I've been waiting on this simply because it has the ground-breaking idea to not kill the baby.  I'm still shocked that The Nativity Story didn't receive the true Hollywood treatment in ending with a back-alley abortion following an erotic foot massage between Joseph and Mary.

Now in its second year running is Fathom Events' series of live broadcasts of performances from The Metropolitan Opera.  Presented in high definition digital, audiences at select theatres have what amounts to an on-stage view of such classic fare as Macbeth (today, Jan 12th), Tristun und Isolde, and what I'll definitely be in line for, La Boheme.  About half of the $42 ticket for nosebleed seats in the Met, these usually sell out.  The only performance I've seen, I Puritani from last year's series, filled every seat in the theater, and was exceptional, featuring commentary by the late great Beverly Sills.  Check here for dates, here for participating theatres, and here for the fewer locations that offer the next-day rebroadcast.

Fathom has been doing similar things with concerts, special movie screenings, and specialty exhibitions for a few years, and is definitely worth checking every month or so for new events.

So in a culture and economy that previously enshrined and worshipped the blockbuster, here are two ways that thriving niche audiences are seeing their desires met.

An Xmas Smorgasbord

What with life, work, and the arrival of Crabby Nephew, it might be a while before I get around to seeing any of the new releases for the Christmas weekend, but for convenience's sake, here is a quick overview.

Charlie Wilson's War:  Looks like liberal revisionist history about US involvement in Afghanistan to me, made to target Moonbats in dentures.  While I'm sure the hedonistic tendencies of the titular Congressman are played up, Tom Hanks looks like he does a good job with the material.

Walk Hard:  Take some Talladega Nights, throw in some Ray, and a skosh of Private Parts, and I think you'd arrive at something like the tale of Dewey Cox.  I call it DOA because the R rating will keep out the 13 year-olds this movie will need to sell big, and its brand of humor will likely steer adults toward other movies.

Sweeney Todd:  Johnny Depp as the lead in the adaptation of the Gothic Broadway musical will probably up the movie's grosses by at least $10 million.  The grisly, macabre story of a wronged man slaughtering those who have done him wrong and turning them into meat pies, all the while singing and dancing just might out-do Hairspray's performance at the box office this summer.  Helena Bonham Carter, Timothy Spall, Alan Rickman (all of which have been part of the Harry Potter franchise), and Sasha Baron Cohen also star.

PS I Love You:  The requisite rom-com of the season, this adaptation of the novel of the same name shows how the deceased character of Gerard Butler set up an adventure for his widow played by Hillary Swank.  Looks promising, but expect Lisa Kudrow as the best friend to show up Ms. Swank.

National Treasure 2:  Gotta love Helen Mirren doing a 180 from QE2 to an action flick like this, but I'm seriously fatigued of Over The Top Sequels.  Ben Gates needs to clear the name of his ancestor from involvement in the assassination of President Lincoln, and this duty leads him into all sorts of shenanigans.

The Waterhorse:  Walden Media has done an outstanding job with making family-friendly entertainment (Narnia, Charlotte's Web, Because of Winn-Dixie), so this is sure to be the big winner of the Christmas Day releases.  A charming tale on the origins of the Loch Ness "monster", the movie is an adaptation of the book written by the author of Babe.

Part of the legacy of Scream has been a horror movie every Christmas, and this year, it'll be AVP-R making its way to theatres.  Also coming out on X-mas are:

The Great Debaters, about a debate team from historically black Wiley College taking on Hahvahd.

The Bucket List, which chronicles the unlikely friendship by two men facing life before they die.

The Orphanage, produced by Guillermo Del Toro, takes a woman back to the house she grew up in, where she and her son share some spooky experiences.

With so many options this holiday season, me and Crabby Nephew wish you a Merry Christmas at home and at the movies.

Skin flix

Director Robert Zemeckis continues his use of motion capture with his adaptation of the English epic poem Beowulf.  The basic story is preserved:  mighty warrior Beowulf shows up to defend a kingdom long terrorized by the monstrous Grendel, and in turn, Grendel's mother and a dragon.  A significant portion of the text was reworked, so there are a few surprises even for those well-versed in the original text.

The movie is something of a mixed bag.  The combination of digital RealD technology (again, I'm a sucker for 3-D glasses) and the motion capture makes for a STUNNING presentation.  I have mixed feelings about the big changes they did to the story-- the changes to Grendel's mother were lame, but the connection made to the second half of the story was a good idea, and so was the horror that Beowulf awakens to.  Winstone's delivery is odd, peppering Beowulf's monologues with brief but noticeable pauses.  A small detail I quite liked was how Grendel's Mother addresses Beowulf, making reference to the meaning behind the titular kenning, which is later manifested in a sail.

Something should be said that while it is PG-13, a factor in it not being rated more adult appropriate was the "distancing" that the motion capture creates over live-action.  Grendel's rampages into the feasting hall are quite graphic, and punctuated by flickering light.  While Angie and co. simply appear to be naked, and strategic coverings and objects are used for the nether bits, the nudity of the characters should be deemed real enough to earn back the initial R-rating.  As a whole, the movie fell short of the hype, but if a nearby theatre is offering it in 3-D or IMAX, it's worth the trip just for the visuals.

I'm not remotely familiar with Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera, so I can't say anything on how good the adaptation to the screen is.  But the story is simple enough:  Fermina is a newly-widowed matriarch who comes home from the funeral of her husband to a long-lost flame proclaiming a life-long love for her, which triggers a flashback.  A young boy, Fiorentino,  is enamored with a girl, Fermina, who is out of his league, and when his feelings are categorically not returned, he goes about trying to forget his painful rejection by becoming a playboy while she gets married to Dr. Juvenal Urbino.

Filmed beautifully in Colombia, Garcia Marquez's home country and the setting for the novel, there are several great landscape shots and the creation of the town adds to the feel of authenticity.  Shakira's presence on the soundtrack was a similarly great choice, and I will admittedly see anything with Javier Bardem after seeing him in Mar Adentro. 

But what is supposed to be a great story feels flat after it leaves the page, and instead of feeling engaged, a lot of the film was a yawn for me.  Not to mention the numerous, but brief, love scenes thrown in.  The first two are actually funny, but they quickly fade into "Oooh, there's a bookshelf behind the couple having sex.  I wonder if there's anything good on it.".  I'm also a bit peeved that the movie is in English, instead of Spanish when so many members of the cast (Bardem, John Leguizamo, Catalina Sandino Moreno, etc) are fluent or native speakers.  So like Beowulf, this is very much a mixed bag, but lots of great scenery, haunting Shakira tunes, and the outstanding Javier Bardem, who I'll mention more when I get around to No Country For Old Men.

Family holiday reviews

Since many of us will be enjoying a long weekend in celebration of Thanksgiving, that means shopping, family time, and movies.  Here's a run down of the family friendly options at le cineplex.

Bee Movie:  Jerry Seinfeld's collaboration with Dreamworks centers around the life of the bee Barry Benson, and his "early life crisis" at not knowing where to take his life in the hive.  He manages to score a mission with the Pollen Jocks in an attempt to taste a non-monotonous life, during which he is saved by Vanessa Bloom, the florist who saves him from death by shoe.  After scaring the daylights out of her, they become friends and it is on an outing to the grocery store that Barry discovers a horrifying truth:  the humans are stealing the honey.  Determined to get at the bottom of this theft, Barry employs the help of Vanessa, his bee friend Adam, and a judge and jury to obtain justice for the bees.  But at what cost do they obtain this justice?

Bottom line- Exceptionally well done.  The animation was great, the writing was good, and for a kid's movie, surprisingly enjoyable.  With a lot of Seinfeld's trademark humor thrown in, plenty of big name voices (Chris Rock, Matthew Broderick, Oprah, Renee Zellweger), and an amusing story, this is probably the best bet for kids and adults to enjoy together. My only complaint is a joke about murder-suicide pacts, which is part of what nudged it to a PG rating (that and the ridiculous "brief depictions of smoking").

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium:  The titular owner of the flamboyantly magical toy store is making arrangements for his store to pass on to the hands of his manager, Molly Mahoney, store manager and talented pianist.  This requires hiring an accountant, the "mutant" Henry Weston, a stick-in-the-mud bean-counter who is oblivious to the magic around him.  The store also employs the quirky Eric, a little boy unable to make friends with his peers.  But with the surprise departure of the 243 year-old Mr. Magorium, Mahoney finds herself unable to keep the magic alive, which leads to important revelations for all.

Bottom-line:  Cute, but it tries too hard.  Magorium is essentially a friendlier, less intimidating Willy Wonka, and the rest of the characters are a bit flat.  Natalie Portman has performed better than she does here, and hopefully Jason Bateman brought things up a notch for the upcoming Juno.  Formatting the movie as chapters of a story was a good touch, and the credits were creative enough to merit watching them.  With the G rating, it's definitely safe for all audiences, but might provide too many ideas to fatten up children's wish lists for Christmas.

Fred Claus:  Santa's less successful brother Fred finds himself struggling to keep his head above water, and after being jailed, calls his brother to bail him out.  Through some negotiating, he agrees to come up and lend Santa a hand with making his deadlines whilst a holiday corporate agent is breathing down his neck, threatening to shut down the North Pole.  Sibling rivalry and family tensions rear their heads, and Fred finds himself stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Bottom LIne:  From the previews, this looked amazing, but unfortunately it falls a bit short.  While Vince Vaughn delivers a few good jokes, but nothing that stands out.  Likewise, Paul Giamatti could have done with a few more punchlines.  Aside from the elf dance party, nothing about this movie makes it stand amongst other holiday favorites, such as Home Alone, A Christmas Story, or even The Santa Clause.

Family-centric releases for today are:

This Christmas, starring Loretta Devine, Regina King, and singer Chris Brown, as a family faces the joy and drama of coming together for the holidays for the first time in years.

August Rush, with Freddie Highmore, Keri Russel, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Terrence Howard, and Robin Williams, is about the power of music in the life of an orphan born of musicians forced to give him up, and his quest to find them.

Enchanted, with Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, and Susan Sarandon, sees the collision of Disney's prototypical fairy tales and the harsh realities of New York City, which sees the lives of a father and daughter, and a princess from the past intersect for an adventure.

Post-turkey and parade, I'll be posting on Love in the Time of Cholera and Beowulf.  Until then, a Happy Thanksgiving to y'all.

I think therefore I torture, and After Dark Horror

The newest chapter in the Saw franchise opens with the autotopsy of John, and an ominous message left for a detective.  The newest target in this chapter is Detective Riggs, who has seen people die repeatedly in the wake of Jigsaw's philosophical applications of sadistic torture.  The challenge laid before him:  To learn that not everyone can be saved, and how to truly save someone.  The question is:  Can he survive it?

If you haven't seen the preceding Saws, or didn't enjoy them, pass this one up.  Not only is the usual level of startling gore and disturbing images on par with the earlier films, the opening scene of John's autopsy is something entirely different- slow, methodical, and detailed.  Saw IV gives a much appreciated look into the man behind Jigsaw, which leaves plenty of directions for the follow-up.  Overall, it's a worthy successor and a great movie to lose your appetite to.

For those interested in some additional post-Halloween gore and fright, this is the second year of the After Dark Horrorfest:  8 Films to Die For.  Sadly, I will not be able to partake in a weekend movie marathon, but check out the trailers, and the theatre listings to plan a weekend of terror, as the films run on a rotating schedule of sorts,  from Nov. 9-Nov 18th.

Epic post- binging in a theatre

Well, I'm back, and after several long weeks of broken hearing aids, I decided to christen my new toys with a major movie binge weekend to catch up with all that I've missed.  Eight, to be specific.  Most were good, some....well, we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

Nightmare Before Christmas 3-D:  A re-release of the Tim Burton classic, shown in Real-D technology in select theatres for a few weeks.  In case you haven't seen it, or have forgotten, here's a refresher:
Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of Halloweentown, experiences something of a mid-life crisis, having exhausted all of his creative talents on Halloween.  While with his ghostly dog Zero, he wanders into a forest where he finds a portal to parallel "towns", and winds up, to his delight, in Christmastown.  He sets out on a mission to bring this "wild, exotic" holiday to his compatriots, but it's frought with misunderstandings over who and what "Sandy Claws" is, and the spirit of the day.

Bottomline:  This beloved classic is stunningly shown to great effect in 3-D.  I'm a sucker for 3-D glasses, but the $9-10 ticket might send some people over to Blockbuster to relive the fun and mayhem.

Sarah Landon and the Paranormal Hour:  A girl visits the grandmother of a deceased friend, where she learns about an old town mystery and scandal that is set to rock the community with an explosive end.  Spooky things happen on and around the so-called Witching Hour (midnight to 1), and as Sarah Landon learns more about the events from years past, she finds herself compelled to investigate and prevent further tragedy.

Bottomline:  Don't expect much in the way of horror (it's PG, and geared mostly to little kids) or a logical plot (psychics, paranoid brothers, and ghosts abound) or acting (the paranoid brother especially).  Still, it's safe viewing for the family, and might be a good stepping stone for kids to handle scarier/more mature movies.

30 Days of Night:  Slacker that I am, Bridget got to posting on this before I did, but I will say that it was a decent horror movie, though the vampire make-up/effects should have been better.  From the previews, the effects looked worthy of a direct to DVD release, not a theatrical exhibition.  Aside from that, it had a decent story that kept a decent pace, with, IMO, a novel ending.  And ditto on Josh Hartnett.

Gone Baby Gone:  Perhaps reminiscent of Freedomland, this vehicle for Casey Affleck directed by brother Ben has little bro and Michelle Monghan playing private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro.  They've been contracted to help in the search for a little girl who was abducted, and as they uncover clues about the home life for the little girl, and holes in the story of the mother, the distinction between doing what is right and doing what is legal proves problematic.

Bottomline:  Crap.  Mierda.  Scheissen.  And a whole bunch of other words I don't feel comfortable using here.  While the first half was fairly decent, I refer to the second portion of this movie as "The Hydra", as from one ending sprang another after another.  Perhaps this worked much better in the book it was adapted from, but Dios, it was horrible to sit through.  Easily the worst of this weekend's eight.  Taken from I believe Ending #57 is:

Patrick Kenzie:  I will never forgive myself for walking away blah blah blah
Me:  Afflecks, I will never forgive you for this.  And by "never", I mean until one of you gets casted opposite Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain 2:  Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy.

Elizabeth, the Golden Age:  Cate Blanchett reprises the role that garnered her the first of three Oscar nominations.  In this period piece on the English monarch, director Shekhar Kapur sets sight on growing conflict with dominant Spain, as Catholic Phillip II sets his eyes on seizing the English throne from Anglican possession.  Within the budding empire there also exists the threat of religious clash, with Francis Walsingham imploring his queen to obliterate the threat he sees in the Papists.  Also thrown in is Walter Raleigh, who challenges Elizabeth in a way she's not used to.

Bottomline:  Thankfully, I saw this Open-Captioned, as the dialogue in period pieces tends to escape me.  Having never seen Elizabeth, I can only guess that this performance compares favorably.  The confrontation with the Ambassador of Spain is a highlight, as is how she handles her young Deutsch speaking suitor.  As Robbie of The Malcontent notes, historical inaccuracies abound, but I imagine few will care.  Sets are great, wigs galore, and Samantha Morton as Mary Queen of Scots was a good move.  The casting of Catalan actor Jordi Molla as the Iberian monarch was also a good touch, though Javier Bardem would have been my first choice.  Though clearly he has been busy.

Across the Universe:  From Julie Taymor comes this musical dedicated to the music of The Beatles, set to a fairly straighforward story of boy meets girl, boy goes to NYC, boy gets girl, and so on, all set against the turbulence of the late 60s

Bottomline:  I'm something of a Beatles virgin, so I was hearing most of the songs for the first time.  Mistress Manson does a surprisingly good job as Lucy, with the rest of the little known castmembers doing great things with what Taymore gives them.  As the show progresses, it gets more trippy and a tad reminiscent of Moulin Rouge.  Highlights include "Dear Prudence", an inspired use of Uncle Sam, "Hold Me Tight", and about seven other songs.  The dance number featuring men in uniform and draftees in their boxers wasn't bad either.  Lowpoints:  Bono is most certainly NOT the Walrus, and the dirty hippies and their politics.

Rendition:  Egyptian-born American Anway El-Ibrahimi is detained by the US government in connection to a terrorist bombing in North Africa while he is heading home from a conference in South Africa.  He is moved stealthily overseas to be interrogated more "efficiently" under the supervision of CIA agent Douglas Freeman.  Back at home, the frantic wife of Anwar, Isabella, is trying desperately to find out what happened to her husband after he boarded his flight in Cape Town.  She enlists the help of college friend Alan Smith, an aide to Senator Hawkins, which leads her to Corinne Whitman.

Bottomline: Though very much a liberal movie, it was decent, though I could have done without Reese Witherspoon wailing like Chris Crocker (Audio is very NSFW).  Has a bit of a twist that, had I been paying more attention, I might have caught.  I'm generally a fan of most of the cast (Streep, Gyllenhaal, Sarsgaard, Arkin...okay, Reese too), so it was worth seeing.

The Comebacks:  A loser coach takes up the job of leading a ragtag football team through the beginning of the season, only to eventually play in the big championship game.

Bottomline:  Imagine a Scary Movie skewering of inspirational/popular sports movies, but not as good.  I'm all for perverted, disgusting, juvenile humor...so long as it's witty, and the jokes keep rolling.  This had a few funny jokes, but it was mostly stale, and would've been the worst of the weekend if it hadn't been for the hard work of the Afflecks.

Lord, was it a long weekend, but it would seem I'm almost caught up.  This coming weekend has the fourth Saw installment, with some cities showing the three previous chapters of the series together as a marathon on Thursday.  Tickets look to be roughly the cost of renting all three movies, so the triple feature is a fairly good bargain as far as movie theatres go.  Also opening wide is the Steve Carell flick, Dan in Real Life.  So until next time, have fun at the movies.

'30 Days' of hypoglycemic vampires

Perhaps my two Saturday activities didn't go together well: First, I went to a sweet, romantic wedding. Then, I went to catch a vampire movie. (Which may fit with some marriages, but not this particular wedding.) "30 Days of Night" opened this weekend and, being the scary-movie buff I am, I couldn't wait to see this film, in which the northernmost Alaska town is besieged by vampires during 30 days of winter darkness.

Direction: Good. Sets: Perfect. Acting: OK -- one never expects Josh Hartnett to do much except look cute, anyway. But the vampires are, well, the funniest part. The lead vampire, who kicks himself for not discovering the delicious town sooner, dresses like a Hollywood producer in a tie-less suit (which actually makes him scarier than the Marilyn Manson clone) and speaks some garbled language that sounds like a cross between Turkish (think consonants) and Starvin' Marvin on "South Park" (think the click-clicks). The best part is there are subtitles for the Vampirese, as if we need to understand their nonsensical musings, interspersed with screeches toward feeding time.

Which brings me to another point: This band of about 10 vampires attacks a town of more than 150. Is there any point at which vampires get full? The vampires in this movie are fit and trim, yet constantly gorge themselves. I don't remember "The Lost Boys" coming close to emptying their faux Santa Cruz town, but picking off a boardwalk security guard here and there (and washing their faces afterward, which the "30 Days" undead never bother to do). It's like this movie is full of hypoglycemic vampires. Hey, it's Halloween season, so high time for these sorts of serious discussions.

So "30 Days of Night" is entertaining, especially in the run-up to Oct. 31. The moral of the story seemed to be: Always keep some bud growing under a UV lamp, because in the event of a darkness emergency that lamp can mimic sunlight to burn up vampires.

Becoming Cliched, or How Hollywood ruined Jane Austen for me

I forgot to review this with the rest of my Labor Day viewing, so I'll try to make this a short rant.

Becoming Jane chronicles the period of Jane Austen's life that later served as the inspiration for Pride and Prejudice.  Jane meets a stranger to the country, and it's a rough start, and there's another suitor, but she falls for the stranger and blahblahblahblah.

While the principal actors were good (James McAvoy, Anne Hathaway, Dame Maggie Smith, and Julie Walters), I couldn't wait for this movie to be over because it felt like it would never end.  If I sat though another showing of that movie, I'd qualify to be a resident of Shady Pines.  It's not just because this movie is on the long side- it's because I've already seen a great deal of this story before.  Several times.

Now, I loved the book when I read it in high school, but the obsession with Jane Austen's most read work is getting to be a bit much.  Aside from 2005's Pride and Prejudice, there was the Bollywood rendition in 2004, Bride and Prejudice, and in 2003, there was a modernized Pride and Prejudice that took place in Utah.  Not to mention the much celebrated BBC miniseries that is reputed to be the end-all-and-be-all of P&P adaptations.   The first two are good, and I've never seen the other two, but exactly how many Jane Austen adaptations/odes does it take to have bled that source dry?

Hollywood, if the novels of the Bronte sisters are ever subjected to this treatment, I'm liable to flip out and move into a shack in the woods without electricity or indoor plumbing just to escape the sickening reverence of dead authors.

I am McLovin, so pass the nuggets

Well, thanks to Labor Day weekend, I managed to catch up on some of this recent batch of movies.  So without further ado, I'm bringing back Reviews McNuggets (half the calories and all of the rambling).

Halloween:  Rob Zombie's remake of John Carpenter's landmark slasher flick starts off with re-inventing just who Michael Myers was.  The first half of the movie is dedicated to showing Myers' family life, the hints at his instability, and of course, the horrific slaughter that led to his confinement for fifteen years.  Fast forward fifteen years, to which we're shown how he managed to escape from the sanitarium and return to his hometown, where he manages to find the one survivor of his bloody night of horror- his bubbly sister Laurie, a bubbly, well-adjusted girl in the burbs of Haddonfield, Illinois.  Waiting for nightfall on Halloween, he makes his move to continue the killing spree that almost ended the Myers line.

I have to say, I was quite surprised.  Knowing Rob Zombie's zeal for excessive gore and crappy movies, I expected MUCH worse.  While some of the scenes are violent and gruesome, he doesn't throw too much out there.  The back story he creates is decent, which includes the origins of the Michael's signature mask.  The second half is the remade portion, which is a compressed retelling of the Carpenter classic.  All in all, a solid effort, with the new Laurie (Scout Taylor-Compton) showing that she has come quite a ways from the teeny-bopper Sleepover.

The Nanny Diaries:  Annie Braddock has just graduated college, is about to break into a new and exciting career when she...totally chokes at the job interview she is late for.  While being miserable in NYC, she saves a kid from a near-accident, which leads to her accepting a job as a nanny for a self-obsessed, narcissistic Fifth Avenue shop-a-holic.  Annie, or rather, Nanny, leads an unglamourous life watching the glamorous live their own, and frequently finds herself at the whims of unbridled selfishness until she is at her breaking point.

Yawn.  While I'm sure the original book is pure Sunshine and Rainbows, this Diet Devil Wears Prada is pretty damn boring.  Linney's Mrs. X pales in comparison to the outrageousness of Streep's Miranda, and the biggest surprise is the unexpected F-bomb ScarJo drops as Annie the Nanny.  While not bad, it's just simply not good.  Recommended only for senior citizens, and people who haven't seen the far better Prada.

Resurrecting the Champ:  Debuting last week, Champ is the story of Denver Times journalist Eric Kerner, who has shown lackluster talent despite his solid credentials and the renown of his father, a famed radio commentator.  While trying interviewing for another publication, Kerner mentions an idea he has (just made up) for a story:  a homeless man claiming to be a boxing champion long thought to be dead.  Grabbing the bull by the horns, Kerner interviews the "Champ", Bob Satterfield.  After his story makes the front page of the magazine, Eric's life changes in ways he hadn't anticipated.

While this movie has been a flop at the theaters, it is a great story.  It does a fantastic job at showing the contrast between who we try to be for others, and what we should actually focus on being for ourselves.  Josh Hartnett and Samuel L. Jackson both do a wonderful job, and Teri Hatcher plays a marvelously written white-washed sepulcher of a human being in Vegas.  If you can't see this before it leaves the big screen, definitely rent it.

Superbad:  The plot is simple enough- three misfits/wallflowers try to make the most of their last opportunity at partying while in high school.  Throw in a shoddy fake ID, two jugs of laundry detergent, crappy cell phone reception, and some doughnuts in the parking lot, and it's a night of mayhem that won't soon be forgotten.

While this treads on some well-covered ground (Porky's, American Pie), it explores new heights in crassness, gross-out humor, and sophomoric jokes.  That said, I don't think I've laughed so hard throughout a movie in a very long time.  Like Apatow's Knocked Up from June, it is doing fairly well at the box office despite the much-deserved R-rating.  Expect a lot of pasty office nerds to walk around saying "I am McLovin", thanks to break-out Christopher Mintz-Plasse.  Hopefully he can capitalize on the wave of exposure better than Jon Heder has.

Doh!

Lord, it's been two months since I last posted?  Life sure moves fast when it's busy kicking my arse, but hopefully I'll be a good Crabs and get back to posting.

While other movies have made bigger splashes this summer, The Simpsons Movie did something that few of this summer's releases can claim: its grosses on opening weekend exceeded its budget.  Raking in a cool $74 million, it was far and away the number one at the box office.

The Simpsons are at the center of an ecological crisis surrounding Lake Springfield, which prompts the government to take extreme action to "remedy" the problem.  Homer's relationship with his wife and son are shaken, while Lisa's activism leads her to a new interest.  For a cartoon that has grown increasingly stale, it was brilliantly resuscitated for the big screen.  With most of the peripheral characters making a cameo (I didn't see Troy McClure or Kang & Kodos though), and the signature mix of cultural humor and Doh! moments, it brings the best the show has offered throughout its 18 year run to the cineplex.  No Simpsons venture would be complete without celeb cameos, and true to form, a certain A. Brooks voices one of the new characters, and a couple of stars voice themselves.

And for the art house crowd, I managed to squeeze a viewing of Sunshine into the weekend.  In the year 2057, the sun is dying a premature death that threatens to end life on Earth.  A team of astronauts are sent to deliver a nuclear device to jump start our failing star, only they run into several bumps on the road to the Sun, both technical and crew-related.

First, I've got to say that I loved the cast.  With Cliff Curtis (Live Free or Die Hard), Michelle Yeoh (Memoirs of a Geisha), Chris Evans (Fantastic Four), Rose Byrne (Wicker Park, Troy), and the eccentric Cillian Murphy (Breakfast on Pluto, Red Eye, 28 Days Later), a great group of players were brought to the project.  While the premise makes for a somewhat predictable story, there are some good twists, and the visuals and effects are well-done.  Reminded me a bit of Event Horizon, so that should be the cue for all sci-fi nerds to get on board.

Upcoming limited-releases that look promising are this weekend's Becoming Jane, and next week's Rocket Science, while the last major summer releases are Rush Hour 3 and Bourne Ultimatum.